Protect Me
by otakucraze
Summary: ObitoxOCxKakashi Ukime has had no good fortune come her way... until she met Obito, who changed her life forever. Ukime blames his death completely on Kakashi, and as her life starts to fall apart at the seams can she ever forgive the person she hates?
1. Pain

Hey everyone, I decided to take a small break from my stories so I could write a short one, one that has been on my mind for years after writing my first and only Kakashi One-shot a few years back. I got feedback from a few reviewers that it was a great one-shot it was just too short for their liking and should have been expanded. This thought has been on my mind formulating for years, and since my stories, so many that need updating and redoing, I was getting stressed about it, mainly since I have writer's block for nearly ALL of them. So to hopefully help with that I am writing a short story… let me repeat that again SHORT story around the character Ukime that I created around her life. I formulated this plan after re-reading my one-shot and it feels good to put all my current stories on the backburner and just focus on a single one, one that has an outline I already wrote. So if you would like, new readers, you can read the one-shot, or you don't have to, your choice; but I will warn you that I expect this story to be about 3-5 chapters long.

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><p>Thank you for taking the time to read my stories and please review, it literally makes my day when I get them.<p>

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><p>Sidenote: this story starts off as ObitoxOCish but turns into KakashixOC<p>

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

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><p>Ukime shivered in her sheets, as she awoke from her nightmare, she brought the thin sheet around herself as a futile attempt to get warm as the window to her room had been broken by one of her father's outbursts as he threw her nightstand out the window. Ukime noticed the sun was coming up and let out a sigh of relief as she had a reason to get out of bed. She dressed quickly and quietly, knowing not to make a sound for her father was a very light sleeper and usually in a terrible mood in the morning… or any other time of the day for that matter. Ukime sighed as she covered last night's new bruises to her tiny frame and wondered if life would ever get better for her.<p>

She crept down the stairs as quietly as she could, holding her breath as she did so, not actually breathing until she had opened the door, with the smallest creaking sound, and then let it out slowly before closing the door again, the door creaked louder than it had before and Ukime's heart hitched in her throat at the idea of her father waking up to it. She winced, the facial expression reminding her of the black eye she probably sported from last night's anger, and Ukime sucked in a breath of pain, learning long ago to not let out a cry or a sound from the pain.

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><p>Ukime jumped the fence and walked slowly to the training grounds she was meeting her team at, not really looking forward to getting beat up any further. When what seemed like a missile crashed into her back and caused her to fall feet from where she was standing, head first, into the dirt.<p>

"I'm sorry, I'm soo sorry" the missile, or rather the boy said as he got off and helped the girl up, as she hissed in pain as he decided to raise her to her feet by a very painful bruise.

Her body responded to the pain, Ukime's mind, however reeled at the boy's words

_Did he just say he was sorry… to me?_

Ukime usually did not get very many kind words, for from her baggy clothes sizes too big for her and most often tattered, mostly because they were found in the trash, to her frizzy slashed at hair, since she refused to even tame it for her mother, and sometimes her father, would slash at her, often grabbing her hair and chopping it off, hence the odd angles. She wasn't the prettiest girl to look at, she knew that. But she craved them, her dreams, if she had the fortune to have them, consisted of kind words, compliments. She awoke happy to find everything the way she left it when she went to sleep. She was living in hell and her sleep was her longed for reality from it.

From the girl's hissing the boy lifted her shirt's sleeve and his eyes widened at the dark bruise there, he looked at her face and saw the black eye as Ukime finally came out of her reverie and looked to the ground, mumbling that she was late for training

"Who did this to you?" the boy asked, and Ukime wanted to cry out, because for so long she wanted to have someone notice the abuse, but people overlooked her, refused to see the problem. Yet it was embarrassing, and she didn't know this boy. He looked at her with his black eyes showing so much emotion that pounded in her blue eyes that Ukime couldn't stand to look at them without wanting to scream and cry and do all the things that usually caused her beatings. The boy held pity in his eyes before looking over his shoulder. "Come with me" he said softly, gently, kindly. Even though she knew she would get yelled at by her sensei and the sensei's pet Ukime couldn't help but follow the boy that gently held her hand in his as he led her to the training grounds, to the training ground that his teammates were at.

Ukime couldn't help but notice that his deep midnight navy hair glinted in the sunlight, much like the emotions that he held in his eyes when he looked at her.

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><p>"You're LATE!" A girl yelled when they made it to the clearing and Ukime shivered when she noticed her own team in the same training ground<p>

"Look who actually showed up Sobu-sensei?" Her teammate Hidoi sneered when he saw her. Her other teammate, Maito Gai, had a completely different reaction

"Oh young flower how I would love to see you bloom" He said and Ukime allowed a tiny frown and let her eyelids droop from the complete act that she did not want to be in that training ground, with these people

"You need to shut up" A boy's cold voice shot through the air and Ukime opened her eyes to see the genius, Hatake Kakashi. She shivered as his cold calculating gaze fell on her and she silently let her gaze fall to the ground as she subconsciously hid behind the kind boy that knocked into her.

This boy was truly amazing as he growled at the Hatake and said harshly "You are scaring her, leave her alone" Ukime let her gaze look up to the boy in front of her, this boy of kind words.

_Did he just stand up for me?_ Ukime thought as it reverberated through her head, repeating itself over and over again as she looked at the back of the boy's head in shock.

"She is a shinobi. Shinobi should not get scared" The Hatake said coolly and the way he said the phrase sent shivers down Ukime's spine. The boy squeezed Ukime's hand gently

"At least I'm not an emotionless bastard like you" the boy bit back and Ukime had to admit she liked this boy, whoever he was. He was the first one to ever stand up for her and to Hatake Kakashi of all people too!

"Obito, stop it, please" The girl said and the boy, Obito, smiled at her

"Sorry Rin" He said and Ukime's heart dropped.

_Of course he had eyes for someone else, why would he care about me?_ Ukime thought sorrowfully and let her hand drop from Obito's in complete and utter despair and sadness.

"All right brats, since we all know that Minato-san is gone on mission I have been assigned to train you for today" Sobu-sensei said and Ukime instantly felt her gaze drop to the ground. She didn't want to be on her team anymore. "Ukime you are with Rin, and try not to get pulverized" He said with no care towards the abused girl-what-so-ever, the words were there to mock her, nothing else. "Obito and Hidoi, and Gai and Kakashi, pair up and fight" Sobu-sensei said as he sat at the base of the tree to watch. Not really bothering to look in Ukime's general direction.

Ukime and Rin each got out a kunai and poised a fighting stance before dashing at each other. Due to the amount of injuries she sustained last night, one she was sure of to be a sprained ankle, Ukime couldn't dodge as fast as she would have liked, and tripped on a rock, falling into Obito's and Hidoi's fight. Hidoi was aiming an attack at Obito, as Ukime landed in his path with an intake of breath of pain. She hissed lightly under her breath and closed her eyes tightly so not to cry. Hidoi did nothing to change his course and when Obito noticed this he leapt forward with his kunai ready and lunged over the hurt Ukime and into Hidoi's attack. Rin had stopped and watched in awe and Gai and Kakashi stopped at the angry guttural sound coming from Obito's throat when he realized he would trample his teammate to injure his opponent. Kakashi glanced over at the girl from the other team and watched as Rin helped her up, watched as the pain, obvious from her face, as she put pressure on the ankle, did not make a cry of pain of any sort, not even a tear and had to say he was impressed. Not many shinobi, including grown adults could keep the pain contained to only bare minimum facial expressions with no noise or tears.

"We need to get you to the hospital" Rin said and Ukime remembered the last time she went to the hospital and how her parents were questioned about her injuries, and how much worse the abuse had been when she was healed and allowed to come back to her inner hell, what Konoha called her home. Ukime resisted the girl and lied through her teeth in her small voice

"No, I'm fine; I just need to get off of it for awhile. I don't need to go to the hospital." Ukime said, and Kakashi raised one of his eyebrows at the girl. He now knew she was stupid. It was one thing to not show the pain that racked through your body, but not getting it fixed was plain stupid, he didn't understand her. Rin sighed and let her rest under a tree and glared at the girl, who looked back in eyes that showed the pain and torment in her soul. Ukime could produce a perfect facial expression that a shinobi needed, one of no emotions, but her eyes told whoever looked into them, everything. Rin's glare faltered as she sighed and she knelt beside the girl and performed seals to heal Ukime herself.

"I don't know why you are wasting your chakra" Sobu-sensei said to the healer "She isn't worth it" At the sensei's words both Kakashi, Rin, and Obito were shocked, Obito showing it more than Kakashi and Obito sneered at the Jounin "And why aren't you four sparring?" He asked now not caring about the two girls near him.

"You really should go to a hospital" Rin said when she healed all she could. Ukime looked away from her, pretending that she did not hear the girl and Rin sighed.

Obito, in his anger beat Hidoi and glared his temporary sensei.

"You are so full of youth Kakashi-san" Gai said, his eyes sparkling as he blocked another one of his kicks. Kakashi did not like this Maito Gai.

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><p>Ukime's team left her without a second thought, Hidoi and Sobu-sensei leaving to get food, Gai leaving to go to his favorite restaurant and as always leaving Ukime behind. Ukime was used to this separation of teammates and sensei, but it seemed as Team Minato did not. Obito gaped at the way that her team left Ukime, who was still injured, sitting at the base of a tree.<p>

"Did they really just leave you?" Obito asked, still in shock. Ukime shrugged, not really caring to spend more time with the team she was assigned anyway. "You don't care?" Obito asked, head cocked to the side a bit and eyebrows knitted together in confusion

"It happens all the time" Ukime said quietly. Obito growled before offering his hand to help her up. She took it gingerly and was pleasantly surprised at the gentle way he helped her to her feet. Ukime leaned against the tree to keep her balance.

"Would you like to go eat with us?" Obito asked in all seriousness. Ukime's shock showed immediately through her face and she blinked a few times before the question had sunken in.

"I- I have no money" She said, for it was true, her parents took all her earnings to spend on themselves. Obito pouted before grabbing her hand and saying

"I'll pay for you" and dragging her away from the tree. Ukime limped, her ankle still not completely healed but Obito adjusted his walk to match her slow pace and to help her walk more evenly he put her arm around his neck. Ukime blushed instantly and forced herself to look away from this nice boy who kept helping her.

The group of four headed to the Korean Barbeque restaurant and took the first booth that they could find that was still open. Ukime ended up sitting next to Kakashi, with herself closest to the window. She could feel his gaze on her.

Obito ordered beef for both Ukime and himself and watched it hungrily as it cooked. Ukime, feeling awkward, looked out the window, subconsciously making sure that her bruises were hidden. Once the meat was finished Obito loaded a plate of it for Ukime and handed it to her with one of his signature grins and Ukime allowed a small smile to form on her face as she took the plate thanking him in a small voice and lifted up the skewer to put one of the pieces of meat in her mouth, momentarily forgetting the large shirt she wore. The sleeves fell at the action, landing near her elbow and showed the three youngsters at the table the abuse that she was getting at home, from deep black and blue bruises, to a few cuts still healing and three different reactions from the shock showed on their faces. Kakashi, who was closest to her widened his eyes and his mouth opened as he got he inspected the arm that was showing. Obito had his suspicions confirmed at looked at her in a completely shell shocked look and pity. Rin let out a small gasp as she brought her hands to her mouth and it was that gasp that opened Ukime's eyes as she looked around the table and then her arm. In an instant the meat fell to the plate and she was forcefully covering the abuse that happened in her home and brought her hands, as well as her gaze to her lap.

Kakashi's mind reeled with the new information as he now understood why the girl sitting next to him did not cry out in pain when she broke her ankle, and did not want to go the hospital. The table sat there silently as their shock slowly washed off their faces, leaving only pity.

"Who is responsible for this?" Kakashi asked and Ukime intentionally looked out the window, obviously refusing to answer the question. Knowing that she wouldn't answer Rin sighed

"Do you know when Minato-sensei is coming back?" She asked, helping the girl to get out of answering the question, which did work with Obito, but Kakashi still kept staring, hoping to eventually get the girl to talk.

Ukime eventually grabbed a skewer and making sure her sleeve did not show the bruises again she began to eat, finishing her meal quietly as Kakashi's gaze soon turned into a glare, as she continued to ignore him.


	2. Irritation

Hey all! You made it to the next chapter and thank you for reading thus far. Here is the next installment of Protect Me. I hope you enjoy it and thank you ShinobiStar for your review, I hope this chapter makes you smile.

-Otakucraze

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

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><p>After the meal was over Ukime felt extremely awkward as the four stood outside the restaurant. She dared not go home, she didn't want to even see her parents, fearing the worst, but she wanted an excuse to leave the awkward situation she was in.<p>

"Well, thank you for the meal Obito-san" Ukime said with a short bow "But I need to go-"

"Home? I'll walk you"

"NO!" Ukime said loudly, only imagining what could happen if her parents saw Obito arrive at their home with her. She calmed herself quickly "I was going to go to the library" she said in a quiet voice and the awkward situation seemed to worsen as it was extremely obvious who was abusing the girl. She looked to the ground slightly before bowing slightly once more to the three and limping off to the library.

"Wait" Obito said as he caught up with her "I'll walk you there" He said with his trademark grin. Ukime flushed red but nodded as the two set off in a slow pace to the building. Obito was looking curiously over the girl's appearance before blurting out "Who buys your clothes?" The blood drained from her face in an instant

"I-I" Ukime started "I do" she lied, she found them, not purchased, and Obito could see through the lie as well

"Really?" He asked slyly "Where?" Ukime sighed, knowing she couldn't lie through this question

"The dumpster" she mumbled low enough so only he could hear. Obito stopped in his tracks. His pity for this girl he just met skyrocketed. Ukime stopped and looked at him, begging him through her eyes not to make the situation public. He caught up to her and they continued to the library

"Why don't your parents buy your clothes?" He whispered

"Because they don't care" Ukime whispered back, happy to finally confide in someone about her life

"What about use the money you get from your missions"

"I can't my parents take it from me"

"What about your hair?"

"My mother-" Her voice caught in her throat and she couldn't say anymore, she didn't need to either, Obito could figure it out.

"Come with me" He said cryptically and took her hand, dragging her to the Uchiha compound. Ukime's eyes widened as thoughts of the police rang through her mind and she dug her heels in the ground

"Obito-kun" Ukime pleaded and he stopped dragging and looked at her "I can't, I can't go to the police" Obito smiled "Please don't tell anyone" she pleaded and Obito's smile faltered

"I was going to take you to my home, Ukime-chan" he said "My Ocaa-san might have some clothes from when she was younger, and could probably fix your hair too" he said before he frowned at her "You really should report them though, what they are doing is wrong"

"And what happens when they are released Obito-kun, the beatings will be worse, they always are when I defend myself" Ukime whispered harshly. He nodded in understanding and sighed, the situation could not be helped

"Come on" he said as he entered the compound and heading to his house "Ocaa-san" he said "Tadaima" he finished and entered the house taking his zori off, Ukime doing the same. "Ocaa-san" Obito repeated heading into the kitchen, Ukime following "This is my friend Ukime-chan" he said with a smile and the Uchiha allowed a small smile to appear on her face as she looked the girl over.

_He said I was his friend_ Ukime thought in joy

"Can you cut her hair?" Obito asked in all seriousness, "It got chopped up on her last mission" He covered and the older Uchiha smiled and asked the girl to sit as she took out a kunai

"Your enemy really did a number on your hair" she said as she looked it over "I hope you like the bob cut because with damage this severe I don't think I could do much" she said in sympathy as she began cutting. Obito smiled at the situation and went to head up to the attack and searching the boxes for clothes that could fit his friend. "There you go Ukime-chan" she said as she spun the girl around and looked it over "You look so much better now, go take a look" she said pointing to the bathroom. Ukime staggered to the bathroom and looked in shock at her lavender hair and how it was in an asymmetrical bob. She felt it as tears threatened to flow from the kind act from the Uchihas. She closed her eyes tightly, willing the tears to disappear as her fingers wove themselves in her hair, feeling the job the kunoichi had done and thanking the heavens for the good fortune she had received from the human missile this morning. Obito clambered down the stairs as a tapping on the window occurred.

"Obito-chan, I have to go, money is on the table for you and Ukime-chan to go to dinner if you wish too" she said and Obito grinned

"Ja ne Ocaa-san" he said, waving as his mother grabbed her flac jacket and rushed outside her home. "I found some clothes that might fit you" he said and motioned her to go upstairs.

On his bed were an array of different colored long-sleeved shirts and pants and Ukime couldn't hide the grin on her face

"Well, go try them on" he said as he pushed the clothing into her hands and pushed her into the bathroom. The decision wasn't a difficult one for Ukime, the deep violet top fit her best as well as the navy pants, as well as fit her personality. Coming out with the new outfit Obito grinned once more.

"Thank you" Ukime said as the tears threatened to overflow once more as Obito nervously scratched the back of his neck

"Hahaa" He said, looking away from the completely different looking girl "You still want to go to the library?"

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><p>Ukime left with a book in her face, not caring how late it was and not daring to go home for the fear of the new haircut she would receive, and opted to sleep on the training grounds. She walked the familiar streets not looking up from her book of jutsus she was borrowing from the library until a familiar voice broke her concentration<p>

"You look better" Kakashi said, falling into step with the girl he met earlier. Ukime looked over the book she was reading briefly to see the Hatake with his hands stuffed into his pockets smugly, looking at her through his peripherals. Ukime went back to her back

"All thanks to Obito-kun" She said softly, still heading to the training grounds, limping slightly.

"Heading home?"

"No, training grounds" Ukime said as she read the same sentence for the fourth time

"A little late to \be training don't you think?" He asked

"Hmm" she replied, opting to ignore him. Kakashi got slightly irritated at that

"You know reading in front of people is rude" He said indignantly

"Huh? I'm sorry what did you say?" Ukime said, a small smile playing on her face as she looked over the rim of her book, liking the irritated face that showed for a brief second. She looked back at her book and turned the page, smirking all the while.

"You are doing it on purpose?"

"Doing what on purpose?"

"Irratating me" he said

"I thought the genius Hatake Kakashi doesn't show any emotion, so how can he get irritated?" She asked briefly glancing in his direction as he looked at her in brief shock. "And now the great Hatake Kakashi shows shock, am I a lucky girl or what?" Ukime said with a smirk clearly in her voice as she glanced back at the book. Kakashi was flustered, for this girl of whom he barely knew had done what Obito had set out to do and accomplished it "What would the world do if they knew you weren't so emotionless?" Ukime said, light in her eyes as her brain finally caught up with herself

_I am playfully bantering with the Hatake Kakashi, is this new found confidence because I actually like how I look? _Ukime wondered as Kakashi scowled at the girl before biting back

"Probably the same reaction they would have if they knew your parents beat you" he said harshly, and instantly regretted the words after they left his mouth. Ukime stopped in her tracks, the book dropped to the ground as she looked at her feet before closing her eyes. Kakashi looked up a the sky with his stupid decision and picked up her book

"Please don't tell anyone" she said quietly, almost at a whisper and Kakashi closed his eyes at his stupidity

"I'm sorry" he said quickly and gruffly and Ukime opened her eyes at his words in shock, not expecting them from him as he handed the book back to her. She took it as she continued to stare at him in confusion "I need to go" he said as an excuse, feeling completely idiotic by his stupid insensitive words to the girl. He stuffed his hands in his pockets once more and turned away. Ukime watched his retreating form before shrugging at his actions and continued on to the training grounds.


	3. Bickering

Hey all! You made it to the next chapter and thank you for reading thus far. Here is the next installment of Protect Me. I hope you enjoy it and thank you ZoeHatake for your review, I hope this chapter makes you smile because it sure made me do so.

-Otakucraze

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

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><p>"Ukime?" A male voice asked tentatively and the girl opened her eyes to see a very worried Obito standing over her. Embarrassed she blushed as she sat up from her curled place underneath a tree. Obito began to snicker before going into a full blown laugh and Ukime found herself feeling like her world was falling apart. This boy had decided to relinquish his friendship with her. Seeing her hurt face he stopped before reaching over and gently tugging on a twig and a few leaves that had woven themselves into her hair as she slept and she understood why he was laughing. She flushed a deep red as her hands found their way into her hair, pulling the twigs and leaves that she found. "Why are you sleeping here?" Obito asked and Ukime felt her gaze fall to the ground<p>

"What time is it?" She asked quietly and Obito sighed, wishing she would confide in him.

"About ten" Her eyes widened at his response as she jumped to her feet and ran off to the training grounds she was meeting her team, leaving a very confused looking Obito to watch her leave. Looking down he smiled as he realized she forgot her book, and picking it up decided to give it to her later.

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><p>"Sorry" Ukime mumbled as she entered the training ground where her team was waiting very impatiently for her.<p>

"Ukime you spar with Hidoi" Sobu-sensei said harshly "Gai you spar with the winner" Ukime sighed, already knowing what was going to happen as she got into her fighting stance. Hidoi did the same thing every time he fought her, the same exact strategy and Ukime could swear he did it subconsciously. He would run slightly to Ukime's left and deliver a roundhouse kick before heading to her right as she was down to deliver a punch when she stumbled back up. He would then use his chakra to back up and throw shuriken or kunai and when she was distracted by dodging them he would come at her, kunai in hand, with the body flicker technique behind her and put the kunai to her throat. Ukime allowed him to win, as always, just so she wouldn't have to fight Gai. Gai to the small girl was hell manifested in human form. He spoke with weird terminology, yet remained so focused to pummel her with kicks and punches that were much harder to deflect and take without breaking bones, which is exactly how she managed to go to the hospital the first time.

Allowing herself to lose the fight against Hidoi by making bare minimum movements she sat, looking defeated, next to her sensei. She liked to watch Hidoi and Gai fight because she liked to imagine what she would do differently, make up strategies to defeat either boy. Ukime had a knack for Senjutsu, or strategy and her mind would reel whenever she was in a fight to figure out ways to get out of her situation, to get out of a fight. Although her main priority was to not maintain any more noticeable damage especially any that would include her going to the hospital, she still enjoyed the way her strategies made her feel. She felt as if she were good at something. She just hoped that in the long run her thoughts of throwing her fights with Hidoi would go to her favor.

"Alright, good work today" Sobu-sensei said to the boys "I have decided to enter you into the Chuunin Exams that will be taking place in a week. Gai and Hidoi, meet me here tomorrow and Ukime, try and find a brain" He said harshly to the girl as he handed the permission slips "You each need to fill these out and turn them into the academy in a week's time to room 301. Dismissed" He said and as per usual Sobu-sensei and Hidoi left to go in one direction and Gai in another, leaving Ukime to look down at her slip of paper in glee.

"Now I need to step up my game" Ukime said in delight as she lightly limped into town. Although she sustained a lot of injuries, Ukime healed particularly fast in the area of broken bones or sprains. Ukime thought it had to do with the mindset that if she did not do this naturally, she would certainly die, either from her parents, or from a mission where her sensei thought it best to just leave her. She was lucky to have that gift, and as such her broken ankle was nearly healed.

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><p>She tread through the forest, with a barely noticeable limp, to interrupt the fighting session with Team Minato.<p>

"Sorry" She said as the ruffling of the leaves brought the attention to her

"Ukime-chan!" Obito said loudly and gleefully; her appearance successfully stopping the bickering with Kakashi instantly as he leapt to the base of a tree and brought out a book. He ran over to her and grinned as he handed her the book and Ukime allowed a small smile to form on her face as she thanked him quietly "You forgot it this morning" He explained with his trademark grin. Minato looked intrigued at this girl who stopped the fighting of two of his students simply by the two looking at her

"I don't believe we've met yet, I am Namikaze Minato" he said as he set out an outstretched hand to look at him in shock

_The Yellow Flash wants me to shake his hand?_ Ukime thought. Obito looked at the girl in slight annoyance as she did not make any move whatsoever and Minato's grin faltered at the same time. Obito sighed as she forcefully brought out one of her hands and placed it onto his sensei's and said

"This is my friend Ukime-chan, Minato-sensei" Obito said with a smile. Minato grinned once more and shook the girl's hand before she took it out of his grasp gingerly.

"Nice to meet you" she said quietly as she blushed from embarrassment and her gaze fell to the ground.

"We were about to head out for lunch; would you like to come with?" Minato asked kindly and Ukime looked apprehensive

"I'll pay for you" Obito whispered in her ear and she nodded slightly "Great!" Obito said in accomplishment, pumping his fist in the air, causing Kakashi to roll his eyes "Ramen!"

"Korean Barbeque" Kakashi said with a glare and Minato and Rin sighed as the bickering from before started up again

"We had that yesterday dobe" Obito said with a glare. Ukime looked uncomfortable and Minato smiled slightly as he placed a hand on Obito's shoulder, momentarily stopping the argument

"Why don't we let Ukime-chan decide" He suggested with a smile and both males eyes looked at the girl expectantly. She subconsciously took a step back from the intensity as she looked indecisive

"Doesn't ramen sound good Ukime-chan?" Obito asked,

"Korean Barbeque is good, right Ukime-chan?" Kakashi asked, glaring at Obito at his underhanded play. Rin shook her head at the two's antics.

"No one gave you permission to talk to her teme" Obito said harshly

"Same with you" Kakashi said coolly.

Ukime felt even more flustered and uncomfortable and opened the book in her hands and blocked the two boys from view and to ignore the problem.

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><p>Team Minato and Ukime sat at Ichiraku Ramen after realizing that Ukime wasn't going to decide and that the only fair way to decide was a simple game of rock paper scissors. Kakashi brooded next to Ukime as Obito lapped up his ramen broth happily on her other side. Ukime was slowly eating her noodles, careful not to spill any on her new clothes. The meal ended quickly enough and Obito found himself alone with Ukime and Kakashi.<p>

"Obito-kun" Ukime asked, and he looked at her happily "The Uchiha clan is really good at fire jutsus, I was wondering if maybe, if you aren't too busy, if you could help me with one" Ukime asked completely unsure of herself. Obito shot a look at a shocked Kakashi that clearly said I am better than you.

"Of course Ukime-chan, which jutsu is giving you trouble" He asked, not really looking at the girl but maintain the look he was giving to Kakashi as he glared at him

"The Goukakyuu no Jutsu" Ukime said in her normally quiet voice "I have tried it a bunch of times but it doesn't come out like it is supposed to" Ukime said with her gaze firmly on the ground, obviously embarrassed about the situation

"Of course I can help you" Obito said with a grin, hoping to illicit some emotion of facial expression from Kakashi, all he got was an increase of a glare "Why don't we head off and do that now" Obito said, taking Ukime's hand and grinning maliciously to his rival "Bye Hatake-teme" he said and Ukime looked up at the masked boy

"Bye Hatake-san" She said as she passed him.


	4. Learning

Hey all! You made it to the next chapter and thank you for reading thus far. Here is the next installment of Protect Me. I hope you enjoy it and thank you mistofan for your review, I hope this chapter makes you smile because it sure made me do so.

-Otakucraze

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

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><p>"See what I mean Obito-kun, it isn't big at all" Ukime said as she did her pathetic attempt at the Goukakyuu no Jutsu and Obito nodded his head in concentration<p>

"You need to collect the chakra in your lungs before you blow out, and you also need to make an o with your fingers to better direct it" Obito said with surety, since he had learned and successfully completed the jutsu a full two months before

"Okay" Ukime said before focusing and going through the hand seals with ease and practice before collecting the chakra in her lungs and letting it fly, a surprised squeak of joy escaping her lips as she saw the large fireball she had created and without truly thinking jumped up and down before attacking the Uchiha boy in a hug. "Thank you!" She said before her brain caught up with her movements and in a flash she let go of the surprised and happy boy to look down, a smile still on her face as her face flushed bright red in embarrassment. Obito scratched the back of his neck nervously before asking

"So, you hungry?"

"We ate an hour ago Obito-kun" Ukime said in confusion and Obito began to blush as he grinned sheepishly.

"Hahaha, you're right" He said "Uhh, what were your plans for tonight then?"

"I was going to train for the Chuunin Exams" Ukime said quietly, still not looking into Obito's eyes and he looked at her in shock

"The Chuunin Exams are coming up?"

"Yeah didn't your sensei tell you?" Ukime asked in confusion, sure that if she was being nominated that Obito would. Obito looked determined before flashing the girl a grin

"I am going to go find Minato-sensei now" He said before waving and dashing through the trees. Ukime shrugged at the boy's behavior and opened her book, once again practicing the seals necessary to do each of them and memorizing them before going to the next one before she felt confident to actually accomplice each of the jutsus.

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><p>Standing up, looking away from the book she went through the well practiced seals before saying "Suiton: Mizurappa (Violent Water Wave)" and watching in almost absolute glee as a strong jet of water spurted from her mouth. Letting a grin to appear on her face she went to her next jutsu "Fuuton: Reppushou (Gale Wind Palm)" she said as she outstretched her palm and watched the strong gale come from it, knocking down a few trees while it made itself known. Kakashi jumped and landed awkwardly in front of her. Ukime's eyes widened in shock. Kakashi stood slowly, feeling rather awkward as he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "S-sorry" She said softly "If I had known you were there I would have aimed elsewhere" Kakashi looked away from her, still embarrassed that he got caught watching her, and by complete accident as well.<p>

"It's alright" he said, still not looking at her. "Practicing?" He asked

"Yes, for the Chuunin Exams" She said quietly, feeling slightly uncomfortable about the situation.

"With jutsu like those you hold a good chance of becoming a Chuunin" He said, a blush forming on his cheeks as he said it, though Ukime didn't notice it because of his mask

"You really think so?" Ukime said "Because my sensei doesn't think so"

"I noticed" Kakashi said, now looking at the girl after building up enough courage. "Though with what you undoubtedly showed him of your skill anyone could think that" A small smile formed on her lips as she had to agree with him.

"I just hope I get paired to fight against Hidoi-san" She said

"Why?" Kakashi asked, slightly intrigued

"Because he does the same thing every single time he fights me, and after so many spars with him I know exactly what I need to do to counter his moves and how to beat him" Ukime said, impressing the masked boy "Gai-san is who I am worried about fighting" she said, her gaze falling to the ground. Kakashi looked at this girl of whom he would never had looked twice at, never would have even thought about talking to, if it weren't for Obito. She was silently strong and intelligent, and did not boast about it, she would rather stay silent on the sidelines forming plans and unleashing them at the proper moment than going right out and risk the failure from an inopportune moment. She was proving herself to be an excellent kunoichi that people would sorely underestimate. He smiled lightly under his mask, once again thinking that he would have never met her without the help of Obito.

"He mainly uses Taijutsu, so if you can get something else to fight him then you should be fine" Kakashi mused, thinking back at his last fight with the boy in question

"Like a Genjutsu maybe" Ukime mused to herself, surprising Kakashi once more with her intelligence. Curious about her response he asked her

"Do you know of any Raiton Justus?" Kakashi asked and Ukime thought for a moment

"I never tried one before"

"What is your chakra element?" Kakashi asked and watched Ukime shrug. He sighed a bit before saying "My chakra element is Lightning, if you want I can show you a Raiton jutsu that could prove to be useful" He suggested in his monotone voice, watching in fascination as a light shock filled her expressed itself on her face before changing to gratitude.

"I-I would be honored to learn a jutsu from you" Ukime stuttered and Kakashi smiled to himself

"These are the seals" He said as he slowly showed the girl and watched as she memorized them before doing the seals herself, not doing anything else until the seals flowed gracefully from her fingertips as well as naturally, almost second nature. Looking up to get the next step Kakashi explained what she had to do to her chakra to make the jutsu work properly.

"Good job" Kakashi said in his monotone voice and Ukime smiled at him as she completed the jutsu successfully. He had to admit he was proud of her, and by the looks of it, she was proud of herself. "Would you like to get something to eat?" He asked, a slight tinge of pink forming on his cheeks as he asked and Ukime paused a moment before the smile faded from her face and she looked down. Kakashi chewed on his lip for a moment "My treat for completing the jutsu perfectly" He said as an excuse to have her eat with him. He wanted to know more about her, she was so intriguing to him. That and the thought that of Obito's face when he saw the two eating together would be well worth every penny he would spend on the girl's meal.

"S-sure" she said looking up to his steel gray eyes. Kakashi allowed an unseen smile to show on his face as the two walked to downtown Konoha.

"Korean Barbeque?" Kakashi asked

"I- I" she stuttered and Kakashi looked at her

"You what?" Kakashi asked, curious to her answer

"I was in the mood for udon actually, if you don't mind" Ukime stammered out and Kakashi smiled at her, of course not really allowing her to know he was smiling

"I haven't had udon in awhile" Kakashi mused to himself and allowed himself to quickly glimpse at her face to see that she was smiling silently to herself.

* * *

><p>Ukime and her team arrived at the academy and she could instantly feel the hatred coming off Hidoi in waves. Strategically ignoring him the team headed to room 301 and waited patiently for the first exam to begin. Ukime sat down in the chair marked 32 and spent her time studying the Genin that entered the room. She studied the hitai-ate, their composure, and attempted to determine what type of jutsus they would be good at while blatantly ignoring Hidoi's complaints that she was not good enough to even be considered for Chuunin. Ukime smiled slightly when Rin and Obito entered the room and allowed herself to wave lightly at the boy who bounded over in his excitement. Obito sat down next to Ukime and gushed<p>

"This is so exciting" Ukime smiled at his response as she kept an eye on the other opponents, making sure that she displayed nothing to them other than her alliance with Konoha, which was only what her hitai-ate declared and yelled loudly. The only thing bringing any attention to herself was Obito as he yapped loudly and happily about how he was going to make Chuunin. Ukime nodded at the appropriate time as she struggled to pay attention to both her opponent's actions and what Obito was saying.

The proctor for the first part of the exam crashed through the window, scaring everyone, his wild red hair swaying every which way, looking much like a lion's mane as his grin only showed pointed teeth. The man looked wild, as his eyes surveyed all the Genin who had variations of shock written on their faces

"CONSTANT VILIGANCE!" the man yelled in a booming voice. "Alright brats" he said, still smiling, his hair glinting like a flame "Grab a number and piece of paper and sit where directed" He said and the Genin hopefuls did as they were told. Ukime got the number 43 and went to the middle row and sat down, the paper was completely blank and she sat patiently. "The rules are simple, you answer all the questions on the test, if anyone is caught cheating three times they, as well as their team, are disqualified" He said, still grinning insanely, Ukime could feel Hidoi's glare and watched him mouth "Do not screw up" Ukime rolled her eyes "No talking, begin" he yelled and did the seal for the tiger and questions formed on the paper.

Ukime's mind reeled as information formed in her mind

_What did he mean by caught cheating three times…? Are you supposed to cheat? _Ukime asked herself _Whatever questions I can't get I will figure out how to find, for now just focus on the questions, I should know the answers to some of them_ Ukime decided as she went over the questions, grinning as she realized she had read the material not too long ago as she scribbled down the answers, hoping that her team as well as Obito would pass this section

"Times up" The man roared and with the seal of the snake the test disappeared. Ukime looked around, she had been so focused that she hadn't noticed who had left and realized she was one of the final 50.

A blast occurred near the insane looking man and kunai were thrown towards the remaining Genin participants in waves. Ukime grabbed a kunai to deflect the onslaught as did some of the others, while others climbed under the table.

"42, 63, 12, 39, 16" The man said "If I called your number you fail for lacking CONSTANT VILIGANCE!" his voice shook the walls "The remaining Genin will go to training ground number 44, dismissed" he said, grinning and Ukime looked at her teammates, happy that she was still a contender, and that Obito and Rin were as well.

* * *

><p>The remaining Genin waited outside the gated area and Ukime began studying the remaining Genin once more. Opting to sit on a tree branch as she did so, just to farther out of sight and therefore out of everyone else's radar. Ukime saw Obito and Rin come up and she smiled lightly just as the second proctor let himself be known.<p>

"Listen up!" He yelled, this man had cuts and scars galore and he wore them proudly. Ukime had a smidgen of respect for him and hoped to one day be able to do the same with her scars. "For this test you all will be required to do this test individually, so please sign one of these permission slips and I will explain the test further." He said, his voice quivered with the authority he had and his eyes dashed around as if to see everyone, and to dignify a threat if need be. Ukime landed silently and took a permission slip and didn't bother reading it, and signed the bottom waiting for further instructions. "Go into that little hut over there and take a scroll, you will be given either the heaven or the earth scroll. Whichever one you don't have you will need to find." He said "But be aware that your other opponents are not the only thing you need to worry about" he said as a deadly grin shone through his features "This forest is called the forest of death, and this forest is the source of all your nightmares. Besides each other you will meet oversized creatures whose existence is known only by killing Genin." He watched as shivers went down the spines of some of the Genin "You have five days to find the building at the center and not die" he said and motioned for the Genin to get a scroll

"Ukime" Obito said, beckoning her over to him and she complied "When we are in the forest we should pair up and help each other, that way we can protect each other and get the remaining scrolls we need easier" he whispered and Rin nodded. Ukime smiled, Obito had read her mind, and he was right, for this test you needed to be in a team, even if you are required to go individually.


	5. Fight For Your Right to Believe

Hey all! You made it to the next chapter and thank you for reading thus far. Here is the next installment of Protect Me. I hope you enjoy it and thank you mistofan and ShinobiStar for your review, I hope this chapter makes you smile because it sure made me do so.

-Otakucraze

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

* * *

><p>Three days later Rin and Obito had their second scroll and the three were tired and hungry, and just wanted to find a heaven scroll for Ukime and find the tower and sleep without taking turns insuring the other's safety.<p>

"Ugh" Ukime said as Obito shook her violently awake

"Ukime, we are being attacked, wake up!" Obito said and Ukime stumbled to her feet, she had finally gotten her chance to sleep just an hour ago and her body was worn out and tired. The opponents attacking were from the mist, and Ukime had noticed and expected their water affinity and sent a Katon jutsu before swaying and struggling to keep on her feet. The fireball she sent caused the team of three to split and one dodged enough for Rin to knock him out with the back of her kunai. She was breathing hard, and she needed to rest as much as Ukime did. Ukime threw some shuriken, annoyed that her stores for her throwing weaponry were dwindling as Obito sent another fireball at the remaining two. Upon seeing their determination the two conscious shinobi decided running was best and left the boy behind. Ukime fell to her knees breathing hard as Obito, the one who had gotten he most sleep rummaged through the pockets of the boy. "Yes" he yelled in glee and threw the scroll to Ukime who caught it weakly. Ukime took his kunai and shuriken pouches and poured them into her own, offering some to both Rin and Obito who declined. Ukime smiled down at the Heaven scroll as she gathered enough energy to stand and turned herself so she fixated on the direction she knew the tower was in.

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><p>The night before, as Ukime was doing her scouting and watching she discovered after climbing some trees that the three were close to the tower. She disclosed the information to Obito when it was his turn to take over the watch. The three, now going in an all-or-nothing dash to the tower disregarded their low chakra storage, preferring to get to the tower as fast as possible for the simple idea of food and sleep and the three were bound and determined to get there no matter what.<p>

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><p>Ukime nearly feinted when they reached the tower from lack of strength and from sheer exhaustion as she, as well as the two others, put down their scrolls. Two puffs of smoke rose from the scrolls and their senseis appeared from it. Sobu-sensei looked shocked and annoyed to see Ukime<p>

"How the hell did you make it before your teammates?" He asked in a harsh tone, getting Minato's attention immediately. Sobu-sensei looked over and scoffed "Of course, you used Team Minato" Obito growled and sneered at Ukime's sensei and Ukime had to put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from doing anything stupid "I should fail you, but the object of this test was to team up and come together as one, even if you cheated and diverged from your designated team" He said sneering at the lavender headed girl. She stayed silent, keeping her jaw locked and refusing to say a word.

Ukime had learned through this test to believe and speak up for herself, and proved to be a great asset for Obito and Rin for her natural gift at Senjutsu, it was how they had acquired two of the three scrolls. Ukime learned that she didn't like it when people she cared about got hurt and struggled to voice her concerns and deductions, but after the third fight or so, found that raising her voice helped her team rather than hindered, though after the fight was over, still preferred her soft speaking voice.

Minato congratulated his team and told the two he was proud of them, and winked at Ukime to show that he also meant her as well. Ukime blushed and the three were allowed into the tower.

* * *

><p>Ukime collapsed on one of the beds and instantly fell asleep, waking only when Obito brought her in some food. Ukime and Team Minato were either sleeping or eating, as they knew that this test wasn't over yet, and knew that they needed to be completely rested and get their chakra completely replenished if they even thought that they had a chance to pass.<p>

* * *

><p>The next part of the test came sooner than the three could have hoped for and Ukime found that all of Team Sobu had passed the first part of the test and were once again grouped together after the rules were explained.<p>

"This portion will be one on one fights, less than half of you will proceed to the next part of this test, and only the ones who make it to the next portion will have a chance of becoming Chuunin." The proctor said as he pushed up his glasses. Hidoi was annoyed that Ukime had survived and was pissed that she had beaten him to the tower in the first place. "You will be randomly selected to fight, please go on either side of the fighting arena and we will begin" Team Sobu were on the opposite side of the arena as Team Minato, and Ukime couldn't feel more disheartened at the fact that the people who she had grown attached to were too far away to encourage her. "First fight: Uchiha Obito vs. Tsuki Hikari"

"Go Obito-kun" Ukime said loud enough for Obito to grin and wink at her, producing a light blush on her cheeks. Ukime watched in wonder as Obito won his fight and clapped happily for him. However, she made sure that her glee for her friend would not distract her from watching and calculating what she would have to do to beat the other Genin, and as they were showing the girl some of her skills Ukime found it easy to do so.

"Gekido Ukime vs. Hokido Airi" the proctor said and Ukime stood up

"Try not to die, but most importantly don't make me look like an idiot" Sobu-sensei said to the girl and Ukime decided it best not to acknowledge her sensei whatsoever. She walked down the stairs as and smiled lightly at Obito who was cheering her on loudly, and once in awhile Ukime could even hear Rin's words, usually in-between Obito's yelling" Ukime faced her opponent unafraid and silently sized him up, noting that his fighting stance was sloppy, so he would probably be more opt to using Ninjutsu. At the proctors call Ukime dashed forward and gave a roundhouse kick before backing off and throwing some kunai at him, and then going in once more while he was busy dodging to try and knock his legs out from under him. She was not going to give him the chance to form any seals.

She punched before backing up to throw kunai or shuriken before finally getting him so preoccupied with dodging that he didn't notice her get behind him, in which she took the chance and used the handle of the kunai in her hand to the back of the head, knocking him out. Obito and Rin cheered loudly as Hidoi, Gai, and Sobu sensei held variant expressions ranging from infuriated to shock. Looking over at their faces as she was declared winner of the match Ukime headed to Team Minato, and Obito greeted her in a hug and lifted her off the ground. Rin congratulated her as well as Obito kept an arm around her shoulder as he told her how amazing she was.

* * *

><p>The proctor gathered the remaining ten Genin's attention and had them each get a number, and explained that they would be paired up with the person who also got the same number, for Ukime it was Hidoi, and that the fight would be in one month so they could prepare. Ukime smiled to herself at her luck of getting the chance to fight Hidoi and use the plan she had for such a long time. Ukime bit her lip as Rin and Obito decided that they needed to celebrate and nearly dragged Ukime along.<p>

To say that Ukime was excited for the upcoming battle was clearly an understatement.

* * *

><p>"Freaking sensei" Ukime muttered darkly as she stomped herself over to the library<p>

"You know, for someone who is a finalist in the Chuunin Exams you look like you lost" Kakashi said as he fell into step with the girl. She looked up at him and sighed before looking down as the two continue to walk towards the library "What's wrong?" Kakashi asked

"Sobu-sensei didn't assign a sensei for me to train under" Ukime said, sneering at the thought. Kakashi looked shocked

"What?" Kakashi said

"Yeah, stupid freaking sensei" she said as she kicked a rock that was in her path "So now I don't know what to do" Ukime said quietly, still annoyed at the entire situation "Other than get as many books as freaking possible and study my butt off"

"I could… help you" Kakashi said slowly "You know, if you want it" Ukime stopped in her tracks

"Really?"

"Yeah" Kakashi said, suddenly feeling very awkward as he scratched the back of his head "I can help you with your Genjutsu" He said in his usual monotone voice. Ukime smiled at him before nodding

"Let's do this" Ukime said, her voice sounding both confident and excited. She was not going to take this lying down, she was ready to fight.


	6. Nervousness for the Upcoming Battle

Hey all! You made it to the next chapter and thank you for reading thus far. Here is the next installment of Protect Me. I hope you enjoy it and thank you mistofan for your review, I hope this chapter makes you smile because it sure made me do so.

Hahaha, so much for a maximum of 5 chapters... oh well, it should be less than 10 chapters.

-Otakucraze

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

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><p>Ukime huffed as Kakashi dispelled her Genjutsu after finally finishing it.<p>

"It was still easily detectable Ukime" Kakashi said as the girl pursed her lips at his answer. She sat on the ground and pulled on the book on Genjutsu again, more determined than ever to produce a decent Genjutsu to use on her competition.

"Ugh" Ukime said as she skimmed the passage describing Genjutsu for the fortieth time, Ukime had read this passage so many times she could recite it from memory.

"There you are" Minato said as he went into the training grounds, before lifting an eyebrow at the fact that Kakashi was with Ukime. Upon seeing his sensei's reaction Kakashi sighed

"I am helping her with her Genjutsu" Kakashi answered

"Well, sorry Ukime-chan for taking away your practice partner but I am sure your assigned sensei can help you from here" Minato said with a smile. Ukime glared at the ground with her lips tightly pursed

"Minato-sensei, Ukime doesn't have an assigned sensei" Kakashi said "Which is why I was helping her" Minato looked flabbergasted before sighing, of course Sobu would shaft his up and coming female student, why the hell wouldn't the sexist bastard.

"I will find her a sensei, Kakashi-chan, even if that means that I will teach her, but the Hokage wishes to see you for a mission" Kakashi looked pleased at his senseis answer and bid Ukime farewell. "I will be back momentarily" Minato said to the girl who nodded and went back to going through the seals that she knew so well she dreamt about them.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so you are working on Genjutsu" Minato said after telling the Hokage about the situation of the sensei-less student, who allowed the Yellow Flash to help the girl. Ukime nodded at his statement<p>

"I don't know what I am doing wrong, but Kakashi-san says it is easily detectable, but from what the book says I am doing everything correctly" Ukime said, confusion weaving through her features.

"Well, practice the Genjutsu on me and I might be able to give you some guidance" Minato said as she nodded, her hands flying through the well practiced seals with ease. Like Ukime had suggested the Genjutsu was easily detectable and he dispelled it nearly immediately "Haa" Minato said, knowing exactly what was going on "Ukime-chan, your Genjutsu was carefully prepared, and executed beautifully, the only problem I see is that once you are in it, you are required one set of actions, and if the one caught under the Genjutsu doesn't do that exact thing, it becomes clear what has been placed upon them." Ukime nodded at the older man's words as she straightened.

"How do I fix it?" Ukime asked, determination written clearly on her face.

"You need to understand that people's minds fear the worst, and if you leave the Genjutsu with plenty of room for the one cast under it to manipulate the result, and create their own nightmare, then your Genjutsu will be perfect" Minato said and Ukime nodded once more, and her mind reeled with the new information before looking up at Konoha's legend and asked

"Can I try again?" Minato nodded, pleased that the girl would not give up and Ukime flew through the seals once more and she watched with anticipation as the man was caught in the jutsu, his body standing still as stone, the only thing moving were his eyelids as they fluttered and tightened. His cheek muscles winced once or twice before he bit his lip and his eyes widened as he took a deep intake of breath.

"That was impressive" Minato said, his mind on hyperactive mode as his deepest fears had been realized in that short time period, all in his mind, and he had the sudden urge to go back to his wife to ensure she was okay. "My recommendation is to keep improving it, because some higher class Chuunin and most Jounin will realize they are under attack by Genjutsu, but in my personal opinion, if you use this on any Genin you are competing with, they probably won't stand much of a chance." He said and Ukime collapsed on the ground, the Genjutsu situation was one that took a lot of mental stress as well as concentration and although she was overjoyed to hear it was impressive, she knew she should only use it once, especially in the Chuunin Exams where her stamina, Senjutsu, and chakra stores were tested as heavily as she knew they were.

"Minato-sensei?" Ukime asked

"Yes Ukime-chan?" Minato answered

"How do you make your own jutsu?"

* * *

><p>"Okay, I am going to hand you this paper and all you need to do is apply a bit of chakra into it and we will discover your chakra affinity" Minato said and Ukime did as told, and watched in wonder as the paper crumpled almost immediately "You are of lightning affinity" Minato said<p>

_Of course she is_ Minato thought_ Can she be any more like Kakashi? Should I have expected any different?_

"Okay, so this is what I need you to do first" Minato said as he began to describe what creating a jutsu entitled. Ukime nodded, listening intently and making mental notes of what she would need more information she would need to find in the library when the two glanced up. A bird was circling over their heads and Minato sighed "I'm sorry Ukime-chan but it looks like I am going to be going on a mission, do you think you can do the first step by yourself?" and Ukime nodded, happy that she was able to get any help from the legend at all and he disappeared and Ukime smiled softly

_And that is the reason he is known as the Yellow Flash _Ukime thought as she headed to the library to help her more in the Yellow Flash's absence.

* * *

><p>Ukime flew backwards into a tree and moaned in pain as she struggled to catch her breath. She felt her head spinning and her chakra storage extremely low for her liking but she was determined to finish the jutsu in the last week she had left before the Chuunin exams and after the latest feedback from Minato she found it difficult to give the jutsu shape as well as direct it. All it really was doing was draining her chakra and causing more pain to her than it would to her opponent. Ukime drifted to sleep against the tree trunk, not caring that it was uncomfortable in the least.<p>

* * *

><p>"Ukime-chan" a voice asked in monotone with a slight bit of concern tingeing the masked boy's voice as he crouched in front of the girl. From his perspective his concern was well deserved, for here was a girl he was intrigued in unconscious in front of tree that looked as if she were thrown into it, and she wasn't waking up.<p>

"Ugh" she moaned her eyes fluttering open slightly "K-kashi-san?" she said barely above a whisper

"Who did this to you?" He asked, trying hard not to show the anger that was coursing through his body

"What?"

"Who did this to you?"

"I don't understand" Ukime said in confusion. Kakashi hooked an arm with hers and helped her up to turn her around to see the damage done to the tree

"Who threw you into the tree" he asked, anger and frustration seeping into his usual monotone speaking voice. Ukime's mind clicked with what he thought happened and she could not help the giggle that escaped from her lips as it escalated into a full blown laugh. Kakashi seemed even more confused than ever as she managed to spit out

"That was from me" she said, a grin on her face until he saw his aggravated facial expressions "Kick back" she explained

"Enough to knock you unconscious?" Kakashi asked

"No, enough to have me go through a slight case of chakra depletion sickness" Ukime said quietly, locking her blue eyes with his steel, no longer feeling the situation was funny when the boy in front of her actually was genuinely concerned about her. His eyes still held an obvious question and she sighed before answering it "I am creating my own jutsu"

* * *

><p>Ukime and Kakashi sat down at the udon shop and ordered her usual and Kakashi glanced at her happy content state.<p>

"I think you will make Chuunin"

"Really?"

"With that Genjutsu you used, absolutely" He said before falling silent once more; and so the two ate in that comfortable silence. "Even your jutsu is coming along nicely"

"I just need to give it that extra oomph" Ukime said softly as she finished her food, her mind going through what was still wrong with it.

"I am sure you will do fine tomorrow" Kakashi said as he finished his meal in less than a second and pulled up his mask

"I hope you're right" Ukime said looking down at her hands that were shaking slightly from nervousness of the upcoming fight


	7. Promises

Hey all! You made it to the next chapter and thank you for reading thus far. Here is the next installment of Protect Me. I hope you enjoy it and thank you mistofan and ShinobiStar for your reviews and thank you so much for your continued support; I hope this chapter makes you smile because it sure made me do so.

-Otakucraze

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

* * *

><p>To say that Ukime did not feel intimidated while standing with nine others in a pit surrounded by several villages and the five Kages and Daimyos. Ukime gulped and closed her eyes, determined not to let the large amount of people frighten her from doing her best. She took long slow breaths in and out until she felt a bit more relaxed, that is until the proctor spoke. She opened her eyes and all the nervousness came back much like a tidal wave on the little girl. She gulped before a hand rested on her shoulder and relief was granted to her by the grinning face of Obito<p>

"Welcome everyone" the proctor said and Ukime wanted to listen but was distracted by Obito whispering

"Let's make it so we are the final two fighting" he said with his normal grin and a wink and Ukime smiled lightly as a light blush tinged her cheeks

"The first two to battle are: Gekido Ukime vs. Ketsunoana Hidoi" The proctor said and Obito winked at the girl once more

"Beat him up good" he said and left her standing in the middle of the stadium.

Ukime got into her fighting stance, already knowing the sequences of attacks and jutsus she would perform on the annoyance that was her teammate.

"Why don't you just give up, you know you can't beat me" Hidoi sneered and Ukime's determination to beat Hidoi to his proper place strengthened from his words.

"Begin" The proctor said and like Ukime had predicted Hidoi did the same strategy as he always did. Ukime smirked as her own strategy was coming into fruition and grabbed some kunai to throw in Hidoi's path. He stumbled, not expecting the girl to throw kunai right where his foot would have landed and jumped to his left, feeling slightly dazed and confused that he didn't look up to see Ukime flying away at the hand seals she practiced until they were fluid and natural. By the time he looked up it was too late for the jutsu was being announced

"Suiton: Mizurappa (Violent Water Wave)" she yelled and watched in almost absolute glee as a strong jet of water spurted from her mouth and Hidoi stumbled on his own feet to dive out of the way of the stream of water, now completely annoyed as well as shocked. Meanwhile Ukime was already preparing her next jutsu to launch at the boy and finished it when he finally stood up. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Great Fireball Technique)" she yelled before blowing a giant fireball, hence the name, right at Hidoi. He dived into the area where the Suiton jutsu had just been cast at and right into a puddle, but not missing a stride got out of the water and hoped to run at her in a curve so he could beat her in Taijutsu. Ukime had already suspected this action and was finished with her third jutsu "Fuuton: Reppushou (Gale Wind Palm)" She yelled and she outstretched her palm and watched the strong gale come from it, going once again straight into Hidoi's path, and he once again dived into the puddle, which is what Ukime wanted as she finished her fourth and final jutsu right as he stood up shakily, still flabbergasted that someone he thought was so weak was actually such a strong opponent. "Raiton: Kangekina (Inspiration Wave)" She yelled and put her fingers into the water in front of her that her Suiton jutsu had left behind, and watched as the jutsu that Kakashi had shown her made waves of pure electricity in the water and went straight for Hidoi. He looked shocked and got up as fast as he could, which was not fast enough as his whole body made fierce movements, as if he were going into a seizure, and he creamed as volts of electricity bolted into his body. Ukime let the jutsu go and the proctor announced her the winner. Ukime turned to Hidoi and said in her normally quiet voice "Who's the weak one now?" as she turned her back to the boy and headed to where the other Genin opponents were. The other battles were fast and Ukime found her feelings of nervousness turn slowly into excitement as she found that she had a decent chance to win.

* * *

><p>"Gekido Ukime vs. Maito Gai" Ukime's face dropped at the proctor's words and Obito gave her a tight hug for encouragement.<p>

"You can do this, remember the finale is you and me, Ukime, you and me" He said touching his forehead to hers, causing a deep red blush to form on her cheeks as she walked towards the dusty bottom of the stadium.

Gai grinned at her and they both got into their fighting stances, waiting for the proctor to begin the fight

"Begin" he said and Ukime used chakra in her feet to propel herself away from the fight, Gai gaining ever closer as Ukime locked her blue eyes to his. Ukime gulped as she continued to leap away as she fumbled to complete the hand seals and keep her concentration

_Remember what Minato-sensei said, remember what Minato-sensei said_ Ukime repeated in her mind as she completed the hand seals necessary for her Genjutsu and focused on Gai as he stopped in his tracks, just standing there. Ukime nearly collapsed on the ground from the physical exhaustion from running away from her teammate and struggled to catch her breath. She focused her eyes on his face, watching the facial muscles have minor spasms and his eyes cringe and she watched in mild fascination as sweat began to form and tears began to rain from his eyes. Steadying her breath to nearly normal she decided to put Gai out of his misery and walked up to him and hit him upside the head with the back of her kunai and watched as he fell into unconsciousness

"Winner: Gekido Ukime" the proctor said and she smiled lightly into the seats above her, but even as their applause hit her ears it was nothing to the screaming and cheering from the Genin box where Obito was yelling and cheering in joy, and Ukime had to keep herself from laughing at her new found friend's behavior as she walked over to where he was. Upon seeing her he picked her up in a tight hug and spun her around and exclaimed how amazing she was and barely heard his name being called

"Wish me luck" Obito said to his friend

"You don't need any Obito-kun, I know you'll win" Ukime said and he put her back on her feet, her face beet red from embarrassment and shock and he kissed her cheek to deepen the shock factor in her body.

"You continue to amaze me Ukime-chan" he whispered in her ear as he ran off to the stadium. Ukime struggled to refocus her mind to the fight and was able to do so to see the boy that was quickly becoming more of than a friend in her eyes get thrown into the air and pelted with senbon needles, kunai and shuriken then followed with fire. Ukime gasped and fell to her knees from the added shock as tears slowly leaked out of her eyes. Obito hit the ground hard and medics rushed to his body. The boy Obito was fighting smirked a the damaged body of her friend before laughing and Ukime could feel anger bubbling to the surface, anger so intense it was nearing rage at the sheer audacity to hurt her friend, one of the only people who cared for her… her crush. He would have to watch out for Ukime because she was going to get revenge for Obito.

"No one hurts the people I care about" Ukime found herself muttering darkly while sending a glare to the boy that severely hurt her friend as the proctor announced his name

"Winner: Asamashii Geretsu"

"Asamashii-teme, you are going down" Ukime muttered, feeling her anger turn to all out rage as she pegged a mental bulls eye target on his cocky face "You will leave the stadium more battered than Obito-kun, I swear my life on it" Ukime promised herself as her glare became more deadly.


	8. Sadness

Hey all! You made it to the next chapter and thank you for reading thus far. Here is the next installment of Protect Me. I hope you enjoy it and thank you mistofan and RandomNinja239 for your reviews and thank you so much for your continued support. You will probably hate me for this chapter, but it is very long for a reason, the reason being I really want this to be a short story, although it keeps getting longer. *sigh* oh well.

Also, as a warning, this chapter is incredibly sad and was very difficult for me to write because it was slowly killing me inside. Also, this is the first chapter in my entire writing experience that has** successfully made me cry**, so I hope it won't make you cry but it totally did for me, and the next chapters will also be very difficult to write so please be patient, because the next parts will also slowly kill me since I relate so much to Ukime it hurts to have her go through so much pain… but it is a necessary evil. (Happy songs now Otakucraze, listen to happy songs)

I apologize, please don't hate me.

-Otakucraze

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

* * *

><p>Ukime grinned maniacally when she heard the name of the next person she was fighting<p>

"Aamashii Geretsu vs. Gekido Ukime" Ukime and the boy that she so detested walked into the stadium and Ukime sent a very deadly glare to him.

Meanwhile among the ones watching the Chuunin exams…

"She's not going to win" Sobu said confidently

"That's what you said about her last two matches" Shikaku said

"They were flukes, she beat her teammates, so what" Sobu sneered "You haven't seen her when we train"

"Kakashi has trained with her" Minato said

"Really, I am sure she barely made it two minutes" Sobu said

"What do you think Kakashi, who do you think will win?" Minato said

"If she does her own jutsu she could have a chance"

"Hahaha she doesn't have a jutsu of her own" Sobu said to the boy "And they call him a genius" he muttered. Minato and Kakashi looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes she does" Kakashi said "I helped her create and perfect it, as did Minato-sensei"

"What?" Sobu said, anger weaving into his voice "Why would you help train her"

"Because you weren't" Kakashi said with his normal monotone voice and crossed his arms, not happy with Ukime's sensei.

"Little brat" Sobu said as he stood up facing the silver haired genius

"Now now Sobu, sit back down and watch the match" Minato said, standing in between his student and the Jounin. Sobu glared at the Yellow Flash before huffing and sitting down in his seat once more, Minato following soon after.

"Begin" The proctor said and Ukime immediately lunged at the boy with the intensity of Gai. She kicked and punched, spinning her body in contortions to dodge the boy's responsive actions. Her anger only seemed to intensify and it began to boil over as Ukime measured her remaining chakra, knowing that if she did her own jutsu she would use all of her reserve, yet all she wanted to do is beat the living shit out of her opponent. But at the same time she knew that if she continued with Taijutsu she would lose this fight rather quickly

Leaping away with as little amount of chakra as possible as she did the hand seals to do her own jutsu creation, not caring if she used her reserves, the only thing on her mind was to beat this boy that hurt Obito so horribly. Her eyes were still glaring the death glare with the added intensity of a thousand suns, the same that was bubbling over inside her. Geretsu didn't follow the girl as he too was going through his own hand seals, but unfortunately for him Ukime finished first, holding the last seal of the ram as she concentrated on her chakra. To the people watching her blue chakra swirled around her before it flared out like electricity as it turned yellow, her opponent sneered at her

"You really think you can beat me?" He said with a laugh and Ukime's mind went straight to her opponent standing over Obito's broken body and laughing. Ukime's anger boiled into rage and her whole body felt it, her sight went red and her chakra spiked and expanded over her head in the form of a hawk. Ukime screamed and the hawk screeched as well as it flapped its wings. The sneer was wiped from Geretsu's face as his eyes widened at the sight of the lighting hawk. Ukime lifted up her hand and the hawk shot itself into a ball of pure lightning in Ukime's hand in strokes and flashes. Ukime glared and sneered at her opponent as he stumbled backward. Ukime kept her hand with the lightning ball at her side as her left hand grabbed a couple kunai with exploding notes attached and threw them with complete accuracy as she aimed for the spot he was standing and also to the left and the right of where he would have jumped to. The notes exploded and threw him into the puddle of her first match. Ukime smirked evilly and aimed the ball of pure lightning that levitated from her hand straight at the boy

"Raiton: Kyuushuu Kainashi (Revenge of the Worthless)" and the lightning ball threw from her hand and kicked her back far and hard and she hit her head hard as she rolled over her shoulder and rolled to a stop, fifty feet from where she once was standing.

Ukime struggled to keep her vision focused and not spin, as she was struggling to her feet, almost falling over a few times, and stumbled as her vision still wasn't focused. Ukime felt an oncoming headache heading over with the force of a hurricane as her vision finally cleared to see the results of her jutsu and watched in fascination as Geretsu was on the ground screaming as streams of lightning rolled over the boy in waves, electrifying him over and over again.

"Winner: Gekido Ukime" The proctor said and she stumbled to the Genin's waiting box before feeling her eyes flutter before she fell forward, unconscious from chakra depletion.

* * *

><p>A weak "Hey" was what woke Ukime up and her eyes fluttered open and saw a bandaged worse-for-wear Obito<p>

"Hey" Ukime croaked her voice raw from screaming and lack of chakra, and just pure exhaustion.

"I guess we didn't make it to the finales" Obito said and Ukime smiled over at him "I just wish I could have gotten a chance to take a swing at the bastard that did this to me" Obito said weakly and Ukime's smile widened

"Don't worry, I did it for you"

"Hey look who's awake" Minato said with his trademark grin as he entered the medic room with Kakashi.

"Hey" Ukime and Obito said in unison.

"Congratulations, you both" Minato said "You made Chuunin" he said and Ukime collapsed back on her bed as she sighed a sigh of relief and Obito was grinning like a maniac.

* * *

><p>But Obito wouldn't be grinning for long, because the war against Iwagakure peaked a couple months after the Chuunin Exams and Chuunin and Jounin were required to go out on the field and risk their lives for their village. Ukime and Obito were thrown into the fray almost immediately, as well as all the other new Chuunin.<p>

The Chuunin were thrown into the front lines with the Jounin of their village while the Genin stayed back and fixed up the village.

Ukime fought valiantly, growing ever more confident in herself and her Senjutsu. Her skill was noted and she began leading other Chuunin in some of the battles with the other Jounin. She rose from her humble beginnings and painful past to get to the same level Hatake Kakashi was in and surprised her teammates to no end in her intelligence.

Two years with being a Chuunin she discovered that she had been upgraded with Kakashi to Jounin and she could not be happier. She thought that her life was finally looking up and was excited to lead her teammates into the upcoming battle against Iwa. Her jutsu spread fear into her opponents and she had perfected the use of her rage into the jutsu to the point that she had a mental list of things that got her angry and used against her enemies and opponents. She was beginning to become a force to be reckoned with.

* * *

><p>"Congratulations Ukime-chan" Obito said, slightly frustrated in himself for not making Jounin like Kakashi and Ukime "I got you something" he said and pulled out a necklace. Ukime gasped at the necklace that her crush had given her as her face turned bright red.<p>

"Thank you Obito-kun" Ukime said in glee as she took the necklace out of his hands to look at more closely. The pendant was the leaf of Konoha and on the opposite side was the symbol of the Uchiha clan, the fan. Inscribed under the Uchiha clan symbol was Uchiha Obito's name and Ukime couldn't keep the smile off of her face and put it on happily. Obito embraced her after she put the necklace on, and the grin and the blush she held couldn't be wiped off her face for the world as she returned the embrace. Sobu gave his female student a kunai, obviously not caring whatsoever that she had made it past his expectations of her, which included the girl staying Genin forever. Hidoi, on the other hand, had treated her with a lot more respect after having his ass handed to him by the lavender haired girl during the Chuunin exams and handed her a book of jutsus since he knew how much she loved to read, this being given as an example the entire time he had known her since she always had a book of some sort in her face and somehow never managed to bump into anyone. Ukime smiled lightly at her teammate and Gai enveloped her into a hug and once again exclaimed his love for her while crying in happiness.

"Gai-san let me go!" Ukime said as he began crushing her into him to the point that she could not breathe and was expecting to have some bone break.

"She said let her go" Obito said and kicked the boy off of her and stood in front of her, glaring at the odd boy in green spandex.

"Thank you Obito-kun" Ukime whispered in the boy's ear still standing behind him. "Don't you have to go meet your team?" Ukime asked and Obito paled as Ukime allowed a small giggle to escape her lips as he looked at her once more and hugged her once more

"Congratulations again Ukime-chan, when we get back from our missions we should go out and have lunch again" He suggested and Ukime nodded

"Of course" she said as a light blush formed on her cheeks once more. And Obito kissed her on her cheek quickly as a blush formed on his cheeks before whisking away to the training ground to meet his teammates, not realizing that he left Ukime in complete shock before a goofy grin formed on her face and turned away from her teammates as complete glee overtook the lavender haired girl.

"Well, you three have a mission to complete yourselves" Sobu-sensei said and Ukime nodded, still not able to completely wipe the grin off of her face.

"Let's go" Ukime said happily and Hidoi and Gai followed her to the gate.

"Don't die" Sobu-sensei yelled after them and Ukime waved him off.

"We'll be fine" Ukime said, her happiness still written clearly on her face.

* * *

><p>Ukime, Gai, and Hidoi met the response team and the backup for Team Minato and set off immediately before being ambushed before they were close to the bridge. Ukime caught the brunt of a jutsu and flew over her companions and got up fast enough to dodge the enemy's attempt at ending her life. She rolled back on her feet and clashed kunai against kunai and struggled to keep her footing as she began to skid backwards, separating her even further from her teammates. Managing to shock and loose the footing of her opponent with a strategic foot to the chin she plunged her kunai into his chest and got up to jump out of the way of more kunai and grabbed her stash of kunai as she soon realized she was surrounded by the enemy and was too far away from companions that she bit her lip and began throwing kunai at anything that moved, and was feeling the strain of her muscles from the repeated action as well as the thought of knowing she was almost out of her stash of throwing weapons Ukime focused her mind on some way to get out of the situation when she ran out of weapons. Her brain worked overtime but a plan wasn't coming to fruition until a kunai landed next to her and suddenly all her opponents were dead<p>

"Have you seen my team?" Minato asked the dazed and shocked girl. She shook her head no. Minato sighed "Where could they be?" He said before dashing off and Ukime followed him to find her companions doing better than what she was and in a flash of yellow Minato was gone and Ukime gathered the map and dashed to the way she thought the bridge was and her teammates followed her, exhaustion written clearly on their worn out faces. But Ukime was determined to find Obito, to finally tell him how amazing he was to her, and to thank him for everything he had done in her unworthy life and how much it meant to her. Gai and Hidoi struggled to keep up with their new commander and Ukime stopped short when she reached a clearing with dead bodies and Minato, Kakashi, and Rin standing in the middle of it, near a collapsed cave. Ukime walked up, looking for Obito

* * *

><p>"Where's Obito-kun?" Ukime asked and was met with diverted glances and sad faces. "Kakashi-san, where is Obito-kun?" Ukime asked again and watched as Kakashi looked towards the cave sadly, not meeting her blue eyes with his now mismatched ones. Ukime looked to the cave, then to the two closest to her age and put two and two together."He's... he's in there... isn't he?" Ukime said in shock. Kakashi still refused to look at the lavender haired girl. Ukime began to get angry, as the familiar sensation of rage boiled under the surface. She grabbed the front of his flac jacket "He's still in there and you didn't get him OUT?" She yelled at him in disbelief, showing more emotion to the boy in that one moment then she ever had, as she shook him as hard as she possibly could. A hand gently touched her shoulder.<p>

"We were attacked by Iwa nin, Obito sacrificed himself to save Kakashi-san and me" Rin said calmly, tears still running down her cheeks like waterfalls. Her tears did not deter Ukime's anger

"Who was the attack originally for?" Ukime asked as her anger began to flare to the surface and began covering her voice with malice

"Kakashi-san" Rin said meekly and Ukime whirled at the masked boy before noting his mismatched eyes for the first time. She gawked, the shock momentarily stalling the oncoming anger before slapping him as hard as she could "You killed him and you stole his eye" Ukime said with as much spite as she could "I HATE you" Ukime screamed, as she began slamming her fists into the boy's chest "I hate you" she said before falling to the ground in a heap as she cried. Kakashi felt his heart crack as the words kept falling from her lips. "I hate you" and would repeat themselves in his nightmares for years to come. "I never told him I loved him" She muttered as she held clutched the [lace where her heart was and those words caused Kakashi to close his mismatched eyes and turn from the girl, the words causign more hurt to the masked boy's heart that the words I hate you ever could.


	9. Bruised and Broken

Hey all! You made it to the next chapter and thank you for reading thus far. Here is the next installment of Protect Me. I hope you enjoy it and thank you RandomNinja239 for your reviews and thank you so much for your continued support. You will probably hate me for this chapter, again. I really want this to be a short story, although it keeps getting longer. *sigh* oh well.

Please Read and Review

-Otakucraze

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

* * *

><p>Ukime stood for Obito's funeral in complete silence, and could feel herself falling apart at the seams.<p>

"She hasn't talked since it happened" Rin said to Kakashi, obviously worried about the lavender haired girl. Ukime just stared at the picture of the only one who ever did anything positive in her life. She would give anything to rewind the time and just tell the boy how she felt about him but now it was just too late. She regretted it, and as she went up to the picture to place her white flower against the frame she began to cry once again.

"I love you" Ukime whispered to the frame as she wiped away her tears. She forgot about everyone else that was there and headed to the training grounds to train, and to release the anger from her regret.

* * *

><p>Rin forced Ukime away from training to eat something, which the lavender haired girl did reluctantly. She found that if she caused herself a ton of pain it blocked her regret, and that made her feel just a tad better. Ukime took one of the skewers off the grill and placed into her mouth and pulled off a piece when she noticed Kakashi come into the restaurant. She glared at him before putting down the skewer and leaving the restaurant, even pulling a dragging Rin along with her to get away from the masked boy.<p>

* * *

><p>About a month after Obito died Ukime couldn't take the pain anymore, and did the unthinkable, she was going to rile up her parents so they could beat the crap out of her for the sheer idea of dying. Ukime kicked in her front door and was instantly bludgeoned with a vase from her mother as her parents began screaming at her. Ukime turned a deaf ear to the yelling to land a punch to her father's jaw. The fight was bloody<p>

_This is it, I am going to die and my pain will be over _Ukime couldn't help but think as she neared the end of the fight, with a broken rib and arm as her father hurled her out of the girl's already broken window. The sky opened up their bowels and poured rain on the scene, washing away the blood as Ukime refused to move, it hurt too much and found herself smiling lightly at the fact that she would soon be dead. She fell unconscious with thoughts of how much Obito changed her life for the better and how the pain was coming to an end.

But the latter part of her thought was not going to happen. Kakashi was rushing to his home via rooftop when he saw the girl in a broken heap in front of the house he had suspected for years to be her home. He rushed to her and checked her pulse, relieved that it was steady, if not a little weak. He was silently grateful that she was unconscious and picked her up as gently as possible, mindful of her injuries that he could see and rushed her to the hospital.

* * *

><p>The emergency staff took one look at the girl and allowed themselves a look of shock at her condition as she was whisked away on a gurney to get treated and Kakashi was praised for bringing the girl in and that he could leave and change of he wanted to.<p>

"No, I-I want to stay" Kakashi said weakly, he was intensely worried over the girl since he knew that for the last couple of years she lived in the forest, not daring to go to the home that she came from and to the abuse. He fact that she went there only proved that she was getting worse, and he felt horribly responsible since she still blamed him for Obito's death. He sat sullen and as patiently as he could in the waiting room as droplets from his soaked clothing and hair dropped from his body. He still refused to move, all his mind could focus on was the girl in which he once was intrigued in, and how, and where, those feelings turned into a crush, and how that girl was now having emergency surgery.

* * *

><p>After an hour of waiting a nurse brought the boy a towel to dry himself off and to keep him from getting sick. Kakashi waited for three more hours until the doctor walked out and said he could come and see the girl if he still wished to do so.<p>

Kakashi looked at her bruised face and the dried blood from her scalp and the riddled scars and cuts that were stitched up, up and down her arms. He felt sickened by the look of her mangled broken body, and even more so by her bruised and broken spirit. It was slowly killing him inside to see her so down and he was silently screaming at how broken and weak she looked as she lay on the hospital bed. He pulled the chair from the wall closer to her bed and took her small bruised hand into his gloved one and wished that she would willingly put it there, instead of using it to slap him upside the face with it. He took his other hand and placed it on top of hers before looking at his lap and sighed in despair.

* * *

><p>The next morning Minato came into the hospital room with a change of clothes for the boy after getting a call from a nurse about the situation.<p>

"Kakashi" Minato said gently as he gently shook the boy's shoulder.

"Hn" Kakashi said as his eye fluttered open and his vision focused on his sensei. He sat up and let go of the girl's hand

"I brought you a change of clothes Kakashi" Minato said as his eyes looked over the girl on the hospital bed. "The nurses said you brought her in just in time" Minato said as Kakashi began changing his shirt "Because of how heavily it was raining last night her temperature would have dropped quickly and she would've died" He said and Kakashi nodded "You know who did this to her, don't you" Kakashi nodded

"Her parents" Kakashi said in monotone before going to the bathroom and changing the bottom portion of his clothes. Minato walked over to the girl and began inspecting more of the damage. Just from above the sheets he could see the black eye, the gash just below the cheek bone, the bruises and gashes up and down her arms, and past scars and Minato wondered how long she had been abused and wondered why no one noticed. Once Kakashi entered the room Minato left the two alone once more and grabbed a copy of the damage report from a nurse on the lavender haired girl and headed to the Hokage's office, in a foul mood that this abuse had gone on for this long and no one said anything. If there was one thing that Minato could not stand, it was parents abusing their children.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean you didn't notice it?" Minato screamed at Sobu<p>

"She wore baggy clothes, and after she met that Uchiha kid she wore long-sleeved shirts and pants, how would I be able to tell she was getting abused?" Sobu defended against Konoha's legend

"You are her sensei; you should be someone she could talk to"

"She was a brat, she still is" Sobu defended

* * *

><p>"Uchiha Fugaku, I need you to arrest the Gekido's" Minato said to the Head of the police force of Konoha.<p>

* * *

><p>"What? She instigated me" Ukime's father yelled as he was dragged off by the Uchiha police force.<p>

"Stupid brat" Her mother spat.

* * *

><p>Minato went up to the girl's room and was appalled at the living conditions the girl had to live in. He went to the window and noticed the blood on the sharp spikes of glass that remained intact in the room, the small bed with a sheet, and a small closet that held one change of clothes. There was mold growing on the walls and there were puddles from the rain last night. He could almost imagine the pain and horror of Ukime's childhood and left the house; glad he was able to make the poor abused girl's life a little bit better.<p>

* * *

><p>Ukime awoke and one of the first things he saw was Kakashi asleep beside her and the first thing she felt was anger that she was not dead and that she was in the hospital.<p>

"Glad to see you're awake" Kakashi said gently as he lifted his head up

"Get out of here" Ukime said bitterly

"What?"

"Get out" Ukime said, glaring darkly at the boy.

"Ukime, Kakashi-kun saved your life" Rin said

"Oh" Ukime said surprised before giving a death glare to the masked boy "Why didn't you just let me die?" Ukime asked honestly causing Kakashi to widen his one visible eye and Rin gasped before covering her mouth. "Now GET OUT" she screamed at the boy

* * *

><p>Once out of the hospital she went back to her reclusive ways and went back to living in the forest basically. The only time she left the forest was to get food, though she was getting better to hunting small animals so she didn't even have to do that. She just trained until one day her rage got the better of her and she sought after Kakashi.<p>

Diving at him when he was about to start shopping she sent her Kyuushuu Kainashi at him, Kakashi noticing the flare of chakra and dodging the ball of chakra land where he was once standing. Ukime punched and kicked at him before going through her list of jutsu and was about to attempt her Genjutsu when ANBU took control of the situation and took her into custody, having the Yamanaka clan examine why she was attacking one of their Jounin

"Crap" Yamanaka Inoichi said as he pulled out of the pissed off girl's mind

"How is she?" The recently appointed Yondaime Hokage asked, worried about the young girl

"She needs help," The Yamanaka said as he sat down and looked at the girl with pity "What she is doing makes sense in her mind, and she will not stop until Hatake Kakashi is dead"

"Why?" Minato asked

"Obito was the only one in her eyes that did anything positive in her life, starting with the first day he met her, his death hit her hard and she blames Hatake-san for the loss of the one she loved" Yamanaka said after pulling the new Hokage to the side out of earshot of the lavender haired broken kunoichi.

"What do you recommend should be done?" Minato asked the soon to be head of the Yamanaka clan

"Her mind needs to be healed, and I know we need every Jounin we can get our hands on, but she is in no condition to be out on the field, she wants to die as much as she wants Hatake-san to die. I know it will be hard for Konoha as a whole, but what is best for her is to be admitted into the mental hospital"

* * *

><p>(AN: The song that kind of helped my thoughts on this chapter is Hurt by Thousand Foot Krutch for it really put me into Kakashi's shoes as he is watching his crush not only blame him for everything but as she is falling apart. Here is the chorus, which really fits Kakashi in this chapter so well:

Help me help you they won't be there  
>Help me help you they won't see<p>

It hurts when you need me  
>And I can't break your fall<br>It hurts when you can't see  
>And it hurts<p>

And it hurts when you're lonely  
>And I'm standing right beside you there<br>And it hurt when you told me  
>That you told me that you tried this on your own<p>

Hope you never hurt  
>Hope you never cry<br>Hope you never lose your way tonight  
>Hope you never crumble<br>Hope you never fall  
>Hope you never throw away it all)<p> 


	10. All Because of Uchiha Obito

Hey all! You made it to the next chapter and thank you for reading thus far. Here is the next installment of Protect Me. I hope you enjoy it and thank you mistofan for your reviews and thank you so much for your continued support. I absolutely adore this chapter and I hope you do as well.

The ending of Protect Me (I am so proud of myself for keeping at 10 chapters)

Please Read and Review

-Otakucraze

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

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><p>White walls, white linoleum floor, white sheets, white nightstand welcomed Ukime as she was walked into the room by the staff in their white uniforms. Ukime never felt more sick of a lack of color than she had when she entered the room with her white pants and white straightjacket. The door closed and Ukime sat on the bed, annoyed at herself, annoyed at Konoha for putting her in that room, and angry as all get out at Kakashi.<p>

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><p>Ukime was tested and finally given medication to help her with her depression and anger as well as bring down her Chakra level to a bare minimum level. Yet Ukime was smart and after swallowing the medication and noticing the changes in her chakra she stopped swallowing the medication and instead pushed them to the side of her cheeks until she was alone in which she spit them out in the sheets. After the first week Ukime was thought to have her chakra low enough to where she could not escape, and oh how wrong they were.<p>

The straightjacket was taken off because the staff believed there would be no danger from her against the staff or herself and the first chance Ukime had she escaped by using her Gale Wind Palm Jutsu and running out of the building long enough to sense Kakashi's chakra and go after him with her anger intense chakra.

Her plan failed as ANBU overtook her before she could land an attack on the masked Jounin and was dragged back to the mental institution and forced back into the straightjacket, and instead of being fed food and medication, she was given a liquid diet for a month before being introduced to solid food with her medication mashed into the food. A month later was allowed out of the straightjacket.

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><p>After a year Ukime was finally trusted to get medication once more, and not liking the odd feeling of her chakra suppressed once again pushed the pills on the side of her cheek and hid them in the solid food she did not like. The girl's anger didn't really register to the staff anymore, they thought she had finally overcome it until she skipped out on the staff once more, this time not to fight Kakashi, but to go to the KIA stone to see Uchiha Obito's name engraved since she never got a chance to do so.<p>

Her plan backfired when she saw Kakashi also at the KIA stone and her anger flared as strongly as it did before the mental institution and she attacked, landing a few good punches and kicks to the man who refused to retaliate before starting on her mental list of jutsus before ANBU once again took a hold of the situation and brought her once more into custody.

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><p>It took years of living in the mental institution before Ukime finally understood that her rage wasn't helping her, it helped her jutsu, yes, but not her. It was like a poison that was eating away at her and was essentially destroying her life more than her parents ever could. After this realization, which happened in her mid twenties Ukime wanted to talk to Kakashi, without the rage. She began to plan a way to get out, but this time with the medication taking its full effect so her rage could not get the best of her. She looked out the small window and wondered just how much Konoha had changed without her, and taking a breath began to plan her third escape.<p>

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><p>Ukime looked up as her food was being served, her medication crushed and mixed inside and she ate it all, not wanting even the slightest chance for her rage to interrupt her conversation-to-be with the man she blamed, but wanted to talk to without the drama of her chakra being present and taking control over her.<p>

Ukime waited patiently until the wait staff came back in and simply knocked them out with the tray the plate of food came on. Nice, simple, and enough to at least give her a few more minutes to talk to Kakashi. She crept out of the institution and into the outside world and she stretched happily in the sunlight before heading into the village, nicking a kunai or two from lower class shinobi, most likely Genin and headed to the KIA stone first to pay her respects. Upon getting there she saw a scene was already happening; one that almost made her laugh. Her old teammate, Maito Gai and Hatake Kakashi, each in a fighting stance, playing rock paper scissors, with six, what Ukime deducted to most likely be the students, of the two Jounin. Kakashi played rock as Gai played scissors. Gai responded as he always had

"Oh my eternal rival Kakashi-san, your hip cool persona has beat me again, I will do 100 laps around Konoha- ah. Ukime-chan?" Upon hearing her name Kakashi whipped around and she looked at him briefly before taking her kunai and getting what she wanted off her chest. She rushed him and her kunai clanged against his.

"Murderer" She muttered low enough that only he could hear

"Kakashi-sensei" three of the children yelled in alarm in unison.

"I didn't murder him Ukime-chan" Kakashi said, noting that she wasn't adding chakra to her attacks, and upon closer inspection had none to use on him, which he allowed some slack on the girl, he didn't want to hurt her.

"I'll go get ANBU" Gai said as he sped off

"The jutsu was for you Hatake-teme" Ukime said with a light glare as she broke apart to have their kunai clang together once more

"He pushed me out of the way"

"You stole his eye" Ukime said as she tried once more to do a slight amount of damage to the Jounin with no success

"He gave it to me for becoming Jounin" Kakashi replied and Ukime sighed dropping her kunai

"I don't know why I am bothering to fight you, I know I can't win" Ukime said as she sighed.

"Ukime-chan, there's something I want to tell you" Kakashi said and Ukime raised one of her lavender eyebrows

"Just tell me this Hatake-san" Ukime asked and noted that he relaxed a bit without the added –teme honorific "Did you try everything you could to get him out?" She asked, emotion flaring in her eyes as she awaited his answer

"Of course I did, I was crying when I left the cave" Kakashi exclaimed, pocketing his kunai, and purposefully leaving out the fact that it was Obito's eye that was crying not his own. Ukime closed her blue eyes and sighed

"Who the hell is she Kakashi-sensei?" One of his students asked and Ukime opened her eyes and looked at the boy before smiling

"My name is Gekido Ukime, what is your name?" Ukime asked gently and sincerely. Naruto, who had never been talked to that way gawked at the woman in white before straightening his posture and showed the basis of some mannerisms

"I am Uzumaki Naruto and I will be the next Hokage!" He said proudly and Ukime grinned at the boy. Naruto, thinking that her grin was mocking wiped the proud smirk off his face and was ready to bite back at her behavior until she said

"I'm sure you will be, and I bet you will be the greatest Hokage Konoha has ever seen" She said genuinely which made his teammates gawk at the woman, and Naruto himself looked shock for a sheer second before grinning a grin Ukime found familiar

"You better believe it dattebayo!" He said before winking at her and giving her a thumbs up. Ukime looked back to the masked Jounin and smiled

"I am so sorry for blaming you for something that could have never been your fault and for attacking you senselessly" Ukime said as she looked down to the ground

"Ukime-chan I" Kakashi started before being interrupted once more

"You again?" the ANBU captain said, exasperated that he would have to deal with the escaping mental patient again

"Hello, I am not going to fight, I think I am ready to go back" Ukime said and held out her arms, palms up, shocking the ANBU captain who had to fight her into submission enough to put chakra suppressors on her to drag her back. The ANBU tied her hands up and Ukime grinned at Kakashi over her shoulder "Bye Kakashi-san" she said as she was led away. Kakashi watched beating himself mentally for not doing what he wanted to over a decade ago and sighed before looking at his team.

"Training is postponed until tomorrow" Kakashi said before using a body flicker to get himself closer to the Hokage's office.

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><p>Ukime was surprised not to be put in a straightjacket but shrugged it off, focusing her thoughts on what she was able to accomplish in her short outing outside.<p>

"Gekido-san you have a visitor" One of the staff said and opened the door. Confused, since she hadn't had a single visitor in her entire stay, stood to greet whoever it was.

"Kakashi-san!" Ukime said genuinely surprised as the Jounin looked around, wincing at all the white that surrounded and engulfed him. The staff closed the door after instructing Kakashi to knock on the door to let him out. "What are you doing here?" Ukime said, brushing her long lavender hair out of her face and sitting on the bed, and patted the spot next to her. Kakashi took a deep breath and sat down next to her.

"I have wanted to say this for the longest time" Kakashi admitted as he scratched the back of his neck from his nervousness, earning a smile from the woman. "I know you loved Obito, but since I met you, which I am extremely glad for Obito for, I have been intrigued by you, and at one point I found that I had feelings for you" Kakashi admitted not looking at the woman.

"Oh" Ukime noted, before looking away, towards the area which had the only color in the room, the window.

"I understand if you don't feel the same, but the feeling still remains"

"I am so sorry Kakashi-san" Ukime said as she closed her eyes and Kakashi felt his reserve break "It must have killed you in that clearing when I said I loved Obito, and I can't imagine how much pain I have caused you, both mentally and physically" she admitted "I understand your feelings Kakashi-san, but I don't know if it were, or how, it would work out for us if I am stuck in here, even if I find I am capable of reciprocating your feelings" Ukime confessed and Kakashi looked into her blue eyes

"I talked to the Hokage, he said he would let you out on a probationary type notice to see if you can handle the real world again" Kakashi said; hope barely seeping through his aloof voice. Ukime smiled lightly at him after her initial shock wore off

"I feel as if everything has changed since I was put in here" Ukime said honestly, "But I would love to be away from the whiteness of here" Ukime admitted with a sigh of relief which brought out a chuckle from the masked man next to her. Ukime looked up into his steel eye in mild fascination

"What?"

"I don't think I ever heard you laugh before" Ukime admitted and Kakashi gave her his signature eye crease smile, which caused Ukime to smile at him as well.

"There is a catch"

"There always is" Ukime said with a shrug

"You have to take your medication, which will slowly allow your chakra to increase until your probation is over" Kakashi said

"Okay" Ukime said with a shrug "At this point I would do anything for outside food" Ukime admitted with a small laugh of her own as she smiled.

"Come on" Kakashi said as he took her small hand into his large calloused one. Ukime smiled at him and followed him out of her white prison and into the colored outside world, which only made it all the more better knowing that she was allowed to stay out there rather in the institution. Kakashi led her to her apartment and gave her a standard set of shinobi uniform which she gratefully changed into.

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><p>"Hey Obito-kun" Ukime said as she found herself tracing the inscription of his name before pulling out his necklace he gave her all those years ago "I wanted to thank you for everything you have done for me, even introducing me to Kakashi-kun. I think you would be shocked at how much he has changed he kind of acts like both of us mixed together surprisingly." Ukime laughed "He has a student, Naruto-chan, that reminds me so much of you and I feel blessed to know him. I just need advice with one thing Obito-kun, Kakashi-kun likes me, a lot, but I don't know if I could love him back, it would be great to have some sort of sign, but I understand if you are enjoying your afterlife.<p>

I don't know honestly who has changed my life more Obito-kun, you or Kakashi. They are both significant changes, that's for sure, you changed my life by literally crashing into me" Ukime said with a laugh "But Kakashi picked up the pieces of my life after your untimely death and pieced them back together"

"I think I did the better job" Kakashi admitted as he set the bouquet of flowers at he stone and Ukime scoffed

"No I think Obito-kun did" Ukime said as she pushed Kakashi playfully on the shoulder

"No I did" Kakashi said as he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She blushed a deep crimson and looked away. "Sorry" Kakashi said as he let go.

"Kakashi-kun" Ukime asked and Kakashi smirked at the honorific, although it was unseen under his mask

"Yes" He answered the lavender haired woman

"Can I see his eye?" She asked innocently and Kakashi sighed, how about we go to my place and have some tea then I will show you" Kakashi suggested

"Hmm" Ukime said as she placed a finger on her chin in thought "Udon?"

"Yes we can get some udon to go" Kakashi compromised with the woman but found it was worth it when she grinned at him. "Come on" Kakashi said and took her hand, squeezing it before sighing contently at the situation.

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><p>Ukime sat happily on Kakashi's sofa as she broke apart her chopsticks and dove into her to go container of udon as Kakashi put a pot of water on the stove before he too sat on the couch. Ukime looked at him with noodles sticking out of her mouth looking innocently at the man before going back to her meal and Kakashi grinned under his mask, wanting to take her lips with his own and to be the only one she ever looked that way too ever again.<p>

Slurping up the rest of her noodles she looked back up at the man

"Can I see it now?" Ukime asked and Kakashi chuckled

"Eat the rest of your food and she scoffed playfully at him

"You haven't even started on yours" she said mock sarcastically before finishing off her udon in silence before looking up and noticing his was completely devoured. She looked at him in shock "How do you do that?" she asked

"Practice" Kakashi said and Ukime kneeled towards him on his sofa in preparation to look at Obito's eye

"Can I see it now?" Ukime asked excited and Kakashi grinned before pushing up his hitai-ate and watched as Ukime got closer to his face to get a closer look at the swirling Sharingan that was once Obito's. "Do you mind if I touch?" Ukime asked softly leaning even closer, her breath falling onto Kakashi's cheeks and he had to hold in his desire to wrap his arms around the woman and kiss her senseless.

"Sure" he said as his breath tickled her cheek and nose as her fingers lightly traced the scar and Kakashi closed his eye as he absorbed the pleasure of her light touch as it brought Goosebumps to his skin from the pleasure. Her fingers lightly traced the scar down to the top of his mask

"May I?" Ukime asked and Kakashi had to take in a sharp intake of breath as he knew that controlling himself with his mask off would be harder to do than with his mask on.

"Sure" He managed to get out softly and Ukime pulled down the fabric that covered his face slowly, and Kakashi wondered if she was doing it to torture him. Her fingers brushed against his lips momentarily before once again tracing the scar the entire way through and to his jawbone as the woman soaked in his features and once again brushed his lips before passing to rest on his left jawbone. His eyes opened before he took his hand and placed it behind her neck and pulled her into his lips, shocking her for a moment before she closed her eyes and relaxed into the kiss. Kakashi brought his other hand around her waist and pulled her quickly closer to him, shocking her into opening her mouth into the kiss and he quickly took the chance to entangle his tongue against hers. His lips trailed down her jawbone before he began sucking and nibbling at her neck.

"Kakashi" she moaned and he grinned into her neck. Her small hand found its way against his jawbone and she pushed his lips once more onto her hers before placing her lips onto his eye "I think this Obito's way of telling us to just get together already" Ukime laughed softly in his ear and Kakashi brought her closer to him

"I have everything to thank him for" Kakashi whispered in her ear, and watched gleefully as she shivered in his embrace at the action "My Sharingan, my status, and most importantly bringing you in my life" Kakashi whispered hoarsely into her ear, watching as once again she shivered by the action before he bit her earlobe spontaneously.

"Ah" Ukime said before Kakashi crashed his lips once more onto hers.

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><p>And it was true; if it weren't for Uchiha Obito they never would have met. If it weren't for Uchiha Obito they would not be together. They both owed everything to Uchiha Obito, and made it a point to go and thank him every single day, together, at the KIA stone to honor his memory and to each express how much it meant for them to be together because of him.<p>

Because of Uchiha Obito.


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